Grow, Gather and Feast - March
My monthly guide to our gardens and kitchen in March
Hello everyone. March has arrived incredibly quickly this year. I don’t feel like I have had anytime to plan my garden properly as life has been so busy. I’m hoping in the beautiful sun this weekend though I will have time to sit outside and draw my vegetable plan for this year. For those of you who are new here this is my guide to what seeds can be sown, plants grown and jobs to do in the garden. This focuses on the vegetable patch and greenhouse gardening plus some recipes to enjoy using seasonal produce.
Grow
March is seen as a busy month for seed sowing for us gardeners. Take things slow though depending on where you are as you may end up with seedlings on your windowsills for months until the last frost has passed!
Sow
Vegetables
Need a heat mat or heated propagator - Aubergines, celeriac, celery, peppers and tomatoes.
Sown undercover - Beetroot, broad beans, chard, kale, leeks, lettuce, onions, peas, potatoes (first earlies), radish, summer salad leaves, shallots, spinach, spring onions and asparagus crowns.
Plant directly outside (towards the end of the month if the weather is favourable!) - beetroot, broad beans, carrots, chard, pak choi, peas, radishes, rocket, summer cabbages.
Herbs
Basil, coriander, dill, parsley
Edible Flowers
Calendula, borage, nasturtium and violas.
Weeding, potting on seedlings, planting out vegetable plugs (seedlings) and mulching are the main jobs in the garden for this month.
Seedlings which were sown in February and early March will be needing to be potted on into bigger pots towards the end of the month and kept under cover until the risk of the last frost has passed unless they are hardy such as some lettuce varieties and peas and beans.
When planting out seedlings make sure they have been hardened off first, bringing them outside during the day for a week so they get used to the temperatures or put in a cold frame or unheated greenhouse.
Gather
If you had managed to get some autumn planting done then there can still be lots to harvest to reduce the ‘hungry gap’. In my garden our purple sprouting broccoli isn’t quite ready to harvest but hopefully by the end of the month we may get our first crop. The only other harvestables are wild rocket, leeks and coriander this year.
Vegetables
Purple sprouting broccoli, brussel sprouts, cauliflower, chard, kale, leeks, lettuce, rhubarb, salad leaves, spinach wild and cultivated rocket.
Herbs
Chives, coriander, parsley, rosemary
Foraging
Wild garlic, dandelions, nettles, cleavers.
Feast
Spring Savoury Crumble
Ingredients
1 onion, finely chopped
1 leek, finely sliced
1 courgette, cut into thin semi circles
Broad beans (I use frozen from last year)
1 clove garlic, minced
30g vegan butter
30g plain flour
200 ml oat milk
Zest of 1 lemon
150g oats
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp fennel seeds
50g vegan cheddar cheese, grated
Method
Pre-heat your oven to 180C. In a pan start cooking down the onion and leek in olive oil. After five minutes add the garlic and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Add the courgette and cook until all of the vegetables are soft. Turn off the heat and leave to one side.
To make the white sauce, add the butter and flour into a pan, cook on a low heat until they form a paste. Very slowly add the milk, whisking the whole time. The slower you add the milk, the less likely you are to get lumps! Season with salt and pepper. Turn off the heat and add all of the lemon zest, cooked vegetables and broad beans.
To make the crumble topping mix the oats, olive oil, fennel seeds and cheddar cheese together.
To assemble the crumble place the vegetable mixture into the bottom of a oven dish. Spread the crumble topping over the top. Place in the oven and cook for 30-40 minutes.
To celebrate that Spring is here my annual subscription has 20% off for during March so if you would like to upgrade to paid it is a great time to do so. Thank you so much for your support, Hermione xx